Guidebook released clarifying process of becoming a judge

August 11, 2011

Washington: A guide book released by The Washington State Minority and Justice Commission makes an attempt to clarify the process of becoming a judge and tries to attract applicants and candidates from diverse backgrounds to the bench.

"Diversifying the Bench Guidebook: How to Become a Judicial Officer"

The book was developed by the Commission’s Workforce Diversity Committee, co-chaired by Judge Deborah Fleck and Department of Social and Health Services Special Assistant to the Secretary Bonnie Glenn, who proposed the guidebook.

• Content Summary

Explanations of the following subjects

- Jurisdiction

- Judicial eligibility

- Salaries

- Campaigning

- Selection processes

- Evaluations of judicial applicants by the Governor’s office

- Evaluations of judicial candidates by state and local bar associations

"Judges' insight section"

-Collection of judges experiences and lessons-learned by Washington judges on their way to the bench.

• Comments on the book

"We gathered a diverse group of judges from around the state at the new Federal Courthouse in Seattle to engage in a discussion guided by Judge LeRoy McCullough and Bonnie Glenn, I wanted to provide in this Guidebook the knowledge, experience and advice that the best judge-mentors would give to attorneys considering a judicial career. The members of the Workforce Diversity Committee hope this section will be particularly helpful.” -King County Superior Court Judge Deborah Fleck

“In my view, any information that helps demystify the process and that broadly distributes the information will be helpful to extending the invitation to become a judge, because the Commission believes that any institution is enriched when it is diverse, we hope that the guide will help those seeking to diversify the bench across the state.” -King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu

This is only a brief summary of the book, check it out for yourself: Diversifying the Bench Guidebook